


Nights

by PrincessSelene04



Series: We Rise with the Sun [8]
Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Card Games, Carnival, Cute, Family, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21708964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessSelene04/pseuds/PrincessSelene04
Summary: Nova spends many nights with Adrian and his family. So many that she might as well live there. Oh wait...
Relationships: Danna Bell | Monarch/ Narcissa Cronin, Hugh Everhart | Captain Chromium/Simon Westwood | The Dread Warden, Nova Artino | Nightmare/Adrian Everhart | Sketch, Oscar Silva | Smokescreen/Ruby Tucker | Red Assassin
Series: We Rise with the Sun [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564663
Comments: 20
Kudos: 109





	1. Game Night

Nova didn’t bother knocking on the door of the old mayor’s mansion anymore. She had no reason to now that she lived there. 

It’d been almost six months since the battle at the cathedral. Six months since Ace died. Six months since she’d told Hugh Everhart–Captain Chromium, _one her boyfriend’s dads_ –that she, a villain, was in love with his son. Six months since he told her he didn’t believe there were villians anymore.

It’d also been about six months since game night began.

Game night started off simple enough. One night a few weeks after the supernova, Nova got a message from Max asking her to come over. This was nothing out of the ordinary now that he was actually able to interact with people without stealing their powers, so she went to the mansion without a second thought.

When she got there, however, she’d been surprised that Simon Westwood–her boyfriend’s and Max’s other dad–opened the door. “Nova, good to see you. Come on in. Max and Hugh are in the living room,” he said with a smile.

She found her lips mimicking his out of habit. “No Adrian?” She asked as she stepped into the threshold. The few times she’d been to the mansion Adrian was always with her, it was strange that he wasn’t there now. And as nice as Simon and Hugh had been to her since the battle, she knew she had a lot to do to earn their trust. 

Simon shook his head. “No he’s with Oscar planning some one month anniversary thing for Ruby, I think.”

“Right. He mentioned that a couple days ago.” She pulled her hat and heavy winter coat off, hanging them on the wooden pegs by the door. “I bet he’s going to jump out of a cake or something in the middle of HQ.”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t put it past him.” Together they walked down the hallway to the refurbished living room. 

Max smiled at her from where he sat on the floor. “Hi Nova! You ready for game night?”

Nova blinked a few times. “Game night?”

And that had been that. Every Wednesday night Nova, Max, Simon, and Hugh had game night without Adrian. It was a good way for them to get to know her better, for them to trust her. It didn’t hurt that she also got to hear a lot of ridiculous stories about Adrian as a child. A lot of very cute stories.

Tonight they were playing Uno, which was admittedly the most dangerous game they played so they didn’t do it often. Even though they were heroes, whenever a draw 4 card was set down threats were thrown around–very violent threats. Nova said she’d put someone to sleep and make them wake with the worst headache anyone could experience. Hugh would make a chromium knife and twirl it in is hand while biting his lip. Simon’s left eye would twitch and his fists would clench the table so hard his knuckles turned white. And Max? Max would curse the person out so much it would make any sailor blush. Uno was the only time that Simon and Hugh wouldn’t scold him for it.

Hugh shuffled the cards with his large hands, then started dealing them out. “Everyone remember the rules?”

“No putting anyone to sleep,” Nova said.

“No lying that I have to go to the bathroom then turning invisible to come look at your cards,” Simon added with a sigh. 

Hugh looked at his husband with his eyebrows raised. “Or?”

“Or anywhere else.”

The first couple times they played Uno that was a problem. There was no such thing as honor when it came to Uno, Simon had said after Nova felt his body near her and elbowed him in the ribs.

Hugh nodded. “Good. Max?”

Max was grinning at his cards. Nova couldn’t help thinking the kid had a terrible poker face. Well, he didn’t even have a poker face.

“What?” Max asked.

“What’s another rule?”

“Hey, I don’t have any rules that apply to me except the normal ones. You’re the ones that cheat, not me.”

Nova couldn’t help rolling her eyes at that. Just because the kid didn’t have powers anymore didn’t mean he was incapable of cheating, in fact he’d done it many times. True to his former hero name, the Bandit was excellent at stealing things, but also hiding them.

“Alright, fine,” Max said with a scowl. “No hiding cards.”  
  


“Right. And what happens when someone breaks one of the rules?” Hugh asked. He set the remaining stack of cards in the middle of the coffee table and flipped the top one over as their starter card.

“They have to drink a glass of pickle juice,” Nova said. “Now let’s get on with it. I need to redeem myself after Clue last week. I still can’t believe I lost to you of all people.”

Hugh grinned as he took his turn. The winner of the week before always went first. “It _was_ a very embarrassing defeat for you.”

They started off in a clockwise direction, and Max was next. The first few times around were uneventful, each wanting to hold onto the special cards until they got some numbers out of the way.

“So,” Simon said. “Who wants to share their most interesting Adrian story first?” He put a reverse card down, making Nova grumble.

She started to draw cards until she had one she could use, then set it on the pile. “He was pretty much his usual self around me. Didn’t do anything embarrassing.” Well, there was one thing that happened, but that was while they were making out and it was important for context that they were making out, so she wasn’t going to tell his dads and little brother about it.

“Liar,” Max said.

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

Hugh interrupted the back and forth bickering he knew was about to happen. “Max has a point. You always have an Adrian story for us.”

She could make something up that sounded Adrian like, but she’d promised herself and Adrian and his family that she wouldn’t lie to them anymore. “It’s hilarious, but if I tell you, you’re going to be grossed out,” she warned.

“Oh?” Simon seemed intrigued now. “Is it PG?”

Max set another card down. “I’m eleven, I think I can handle PG-13 after all the crazy things I’ve done.”

“That depends, on _how_ PG-13 it is,” Hugh said as he eyed Nova. It was one of those looks that made her feel like she was undercover as a renegade again. It made her feel like she’d be sent to prison if they found out her secrets. Not that they would.

“It’s on the low end of PG-13,” Nova said.

Simon glared at his husband when Hugh set down a draw four. He drew the cards and seemed even more frustrated my what they were. “I want a divorce.”

Hugh grinned. “No you don’t. And go ahead and tell us Nova.”

She very pointedly didn’t make eye contact as she laid her card down. “Adrian wasn’t paying attention when he went to kiss me and accidentally stuck his tongue up my nose a little bit. It was weird. His cheeks were so bright it looked like he was wearing face paint.”

Simon snorted, Hugh covered his mouth with his hand to hold in his laughter, and Max made a disgusted face. 

“I told you it was gross.”

“I can’t believe he…” Simon started laughing so hard he had to set is cards down. 

Now that he was laughing, Nova looked them in the eyes with a small smile on her face. “Honestly, neither can I.”

“How would that even _happen_?” Hugh wheezed. “Please… please don’t tell me he kisses you with his tongue out all the time, because if he does we’re going to have to talk about that.”

“No, he definitely doesn’t,” Nova assured him. “I have no idea what he was trying to do that day and he knows better than to do… whatever that was again.”

Max gave her a look “Up your _nose_?”

“Only a little, but it was enough to be weird. I think he was going to lick the tip of my nose because I was annoying him.”

“And he misjudged the distance,” Simon mused now that he was calmed down a little bit. He picked his cards back up and took his turn, but he was still smiling at his ridiculous son. “We know his vision is terrible without his glasses, but he’s always been a bad shot with a gun too. Maybe his depth perception is off.”

Hugh set another card down. “But it hasn’t been much of a problem before. Drawing takes depth perception and he’s great at that.”

“It actually doesn’t take that much,” Nova said.

Simon and Hugh looked at her curiously.

She flushed slightly, still not exactly used to the two of them looking at her like she had more answers than them. “Well, think about it. Drawing happens on a two dimensional surface, he only needs to look at the piece of paper, or glass, or wall, or whatever he’s drawing on. But shooting, or aiming at anything really, requires you to be more spatially aware.”

There were a few beats of silence, as if Simon and Hugh were thinking over what Nova said, wondering if maybe their son needed to go to the optometrist again sooner than his yearly appointment.

Max set a skip card down. “It’s still gross that he stuck his tongue up your nose.”

“It really is,” Nova agreed. “What’s your Adrian story for the week?”

“He charmed an ice cream lady into giving me free ice cream,” Max said with a grin. “He forgot his wallet when we went yesterday and offered to take a picture with her in exchange.”

“Why wouldn’t you guys just come back and get it?” Hugh asked.

Just as Max opened his mouth, they could hear the front door open. Footsteps resounded down the hall toward them. “I’m home!” Adrian called to no one in particular.

“We’re in the living room!” Hugh called back as he tossed another card down.

Adrian stepped into the room and his brow furrowed the second he saw his dads, brother, and girlfriend sitting on the floor around the coffee table. “Uh… what’s going on in here?”

“Game night,” they chorused without looking away from their hands. 

“Oooookay that was creepy.” He walked across the room and sat on the couch behind Nova. Leaning over he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

She gently swatted him away. “Don’t look at my cards, you’d just go tell Max what I have.”

“What?” He laughed. “No I wouldn’t.”

“Yes you would,” Nova, Simon, and Hugh said together.

Adrian made a face. “You guys gotta stop doing that.”

“And you need to stop sticking your tongue up Nova’s nose,” Max said.

His cheeks heated, eyes darting back down to Nova. “You told them?”

She at least looked sympathetic when she turned toward him and rested her cheek on the side of his thigh. “Sorry. They pried it out of me. But in my defense, you didn’t give me any other good stories to tell them for this week.”

“What does that even mean?” he asked, more more confused than he’d been when he walked in. “Stories? You do–” Adrian paused mid sentence, eyes widening with realization. “You guys have been talking about me. That’s how you knew about the incident at the parade when I was thirteen.” He looked at his fathers. “You promised you’d never tell anyone about that.”

Simon grinned widely. “Actually we promised we’d never tell any of your _friends_ about that, and we haven’t. Nova’s your _girlfriend_ , therefore we haven’t broken any promises.”

“Friend is in the word!”

Nova reached her hand up to cup Adrian’s cheek, giving him a soft smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone your secret.”

He sighed and leaned into her, trusting her. “No more swapping stories about me.”

“Now that I can’t do. This is our destressing time.”

“You can destress with _me_.” 

She shook her head. “No can do. Your dads and Max need this too. You’re more than welcome to join us if you want to listen to stories about yourself though.”

“I’ll pass.”

“In that case…” Nova let her power surge through her, putting him into a peaceful nap. Adrian slumped back against the couch. He’d wake up in an hour or two feeling refreshed. By then they’d be done with game night and she could spend some quality time with him.

She turned back to the table where it was still her turn. 

“Go drink the pickle juice,” Max said. “You cheated.”

“He wasn’t even playing!”


	2. Family Bonding Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrian and Nova try going out on their first official date after 6 months of already being together. But there’s one catch… it’s also on Family Bonding night.

Nova sat at the worktable Adrian had drawn in her room after she officially moved in at the mansion. She turned the screw of a new device she was working on. Well, device was the wrong word to use for that. Instead of weapons, lately she’d taken to making toys. There wasn’t much use for weapons now that the entire world was filled with powered people. **  
**

She wound up the key on the back of the toy, then set it down on the desk. The little dinosaur figurine wobbled across the surface.

Her lips pulled up into a smile, proud of the work she did. It was a different type of pride from the kind she felt when she made weapons. Making this felt more… pure, like she was making something for happiness instead of destruction.

The golden dinosaur stopped moving so she picked it up and rewound it. Setting it back down, she then rested her chin on her arms crossed over the table. Nova watched it walk around again.

A knock sounded on the door.

Without looking up she called, “Come in!”

The door opened, but she didn’t turn around. The person moved closer and then wrapped their arms around her shoulders. _Adrian_ , Nova thought. He was the only person in this house that would hug her so intimately.

Lifting her head, she leaned it back against his shoulders. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he greeted. “What are you up to?”

“Making stuff.”

He chuckled, a low tenor that made her heart soar every time she heard it. “I can see that, but what are you making?”

She grabbed the tennis ball sized figure and held it up in front of them. “A wind up toy. I wanted to make something meant to bring people joy for once. Think Max would like it? I know he’s eleven but–”

Adrian moved around the stool she sat on and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I think he’ll love it.”

“If anything for sentimentality, I hope. I modeled it after Turbo.”

He took the dinosaur from her hand, fingers brushing her soft skin as he did. They’d been together for six months now, but even that simple touch sent shivers down her spine. 

“It looks just like him.”

“That was the goal.”

She watched Adrian examine the toy in his large hands with a smile on his face. “This is really cool, but I came up here to steal you away from your room.” He set the Turbo toy back down on the desk then faced her. His glasses were starting to slip down his nose.

Nova’s eyebrows quirked up. “Oh?”

He reached his hand out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. His cheeks had a faint pink color to them. “Now that everything is settling down, I thought maybe we could, uh, go out on a real date?”

“A date?” she repeated slowly.

The pink in his cheeks got even brighter. “Yeah I thought–I don’t know. It would be fun?”

Nova’s lips curled into a smile. “Yeah. Okay. I’d like that.”

“Okay, change into something nicer and meet me downstairs in 20.”

She nodded and kissed his cheek then gently pushed him away from her. “Alright. Go away so I can.”

Twenty minutes later Nova was walking down the staircase in her best pair of jeans and chocolate leather jacket. Her hair feel in loose waves around her shoulders. She didn’t put any makeup on her face because she never really liked it to begin with. It made her feel like she was trying to hide something.

Adrian’s eyes widened when he saw her and Nova rolled her eyes to try hiding her embarrassment. She stepped closer to him, only an arm’s length away. “This alright?”

“You look beautiful.”

“I wear this all the time,” she deadpanned.

He smiled, leaning over to press a kiss to her lips. “I know, but you still look beautiful.”

“Adriaaaaan,” she sighed. Nova buried her face in his shoulder, once again trying to hide what he was making her feel. She should’ve been used to the affection by now, but she wasn’t even close. It was so strange to have someone love her the way Adrian did. Strange, but more than welcome.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked, voice a low rumble.

Pulling her face off his shoulder, Nova looked up into those pretty brown eyes of his. “Whenever you are, Sketch.”

“Actually it’s whenever _we_ are,” Max said as he bounded down the stairs. He was dressed and ready to go just like Nova and Adrian.

He let go of Nova and looked down at his little brother. “Uh, we’re going on a date, Max. You’re not coming with.”

Nova tilted her head to the side, eyes narrowed at the child. “Wait, he said ‘we.’” 

“Yes he did,” Simon said, entering the room with Hugh behind him. He pulled a light jacket over his shoulders and buttoned it up. “We’re having a family bonding night.”

“Non-negotiable,” Hugh added.

Nova glanced at her boyfriend, not quite sure what to say. Adrian had looked so excited when he told her to change and now he looked beyond disappointed. She reached over to take his hand.

“Can’t we do this another night?” Adrian asked. “Even tomorrow? We already have plans.”

Simon grinned. “What, you don’t want your dads and little brother fifth wheeling?”

Hugh pulled his own jacket on, checking the pocket for car keys. “Also we have a meeting tomorrow night and we know you two aren’t working tomorrow, so you can just change your plans to tomorrow night, which we can’t do.”

“That’s fine with me,” Nova said. It really wasn’t the end of the world having to wait a day for alone time with Adrian. She’d wait for forever to spend time with him if she had to.

“Alright, fine,” Adrian sighed.

Once that was settled, Nova piled into the car with the Everharts. Max sat between her and Adrian on the back seat while Simon drove and Hugh sat next to him. She wasn’t sure where they were going. During the ride they talked about random things that happened at HQ lately. 

Her eyes flickered to the center console where Hugh and Simon had their fingers twined together. It was cute. Their easiness with each other made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Would she and Adrian be like that years down the line? Were they already? She honestly didn’t know. Maybe she’d have to ask Ruby what their relationship looked like from the outside the next time she saw her.

Simon parked the car on the side of the road next to Cosmopolis Park. It was dark out, but the lights from the carnival made everything bright and beautiful. It’d been rebuilt since Nova’s fight with the Detonator–Ingrid, an Anarchist she killed, someone she once considered family.

Nova swallowed down that memory.

They all got out of the car and Simon locked it. Together they walked toward the entrance. 

Adrian’s hand found hers again and she could help looking up to smile at him.

“Sorry they crashed our date,” he said.

She squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. You can make it up to me tomorrow.”

“I will,” Adrian promised. Nova knew it was a promise he would keep. There wasn’t a promise he made that he _hadn’t_ kept. At least not any to her.

Hugh and Simon paid for their entrance wristbands, though the teenager at the counter tried not to make them pay. It was a frequent occurrence given who they were. Nevertheless Hugh and Simon insisted. He then asked if he could get a picture with them, to which they happily agreed.

Nova looked around at the park. People of all ages wandered around, laughing and smiling. There were more people than ever before with outward manifestations of powers. Here and there she saw someone with wings or horns molten lava skin.

Almost a year ago she wanted prodigies to just not exist. She’d wished that people were merely people with no special abilities so that they were all on an even playing field. But now she didn’t feel that way. She was happy that the Supernova gave everyone abilities, it gave people something to be proud of.

Adrian squeezed her hand, bringing her attention back to him. “What do you want to do first?”

Nova met his eyes. “I don’t know. I’ve never been here to have fun, only to blow stuff up.”

“Right,” he laughed. “How about…” Adrian turned around, looking at all the games and rides. “Tilt-A-Whirl?”

“You do know I don’t know what that is, right?”

“Oh you’ll see.” His eyes glimmered with something that would have looked malicious on anyone else, but on him it was adorable. “Come on.” He pulled her through the people on the grounds. Max and his dads followed behind them.

She couldn’t help wondering why he knew exactly where he was going.

They stopped in front of a ride where seats spun around in a small circle while the platform below also spun. Most of the people were laughing. One man’s face was pale as if he were about to be sick. 

“This is the Tilt-A-Whirl?”

“Yup. And it’s the best ride here.”

“If you say so.”

He let go of her hand only to wrap his arms around her waist from behind. His chin rested on her shoulder.

“Adrian,” she sighed.  
  


“Hm?”

“What are you doing?”

“Holding you.”

Nova took a deep breath, then relaxed against him. She wasn’t going to admit it out loud, but she really loved when he held onto her like this. It made her feel cared for, cherished even. “Alright then.”

Max rolled his eyes in front of them. “Dads make them stop being gross.”

“If you want me to be gross I can kiss her,” Adrian said.

“We don’t need you accidentally sticking your tongue up her nose again,” Hugh teased.

Nova couldn’t see Adrian’s face, but she knew he was blushing from how hot his skin suddenly was on hers. He hid his face in her neck and groaned. “I’m never going to live that one down, am I?”

“I don’t think so,” she said. Her hand moved up to pat his head.

The short line of people moved in front of them, showing their purple wristbands to the man in charge of the ride. Hugh, Simon, and Max moved past the small gate and sat in one of the carts.

Nova tried to move too, but Adrian held onto her like a koala bear. “Adrian, stop pouting and let’s go on this ride.”

He lifted his head off her shoulder. “Right. Sorry.” 

They showed the operatory their wristbands then sat in a cart next to his dads and Max.

Nova examined the steel cart as Adrian lowered a bar over their legs. It was rusted and looked like it’d seen far better days, but it must still be in decent enough shape if they were on it.

“Are you sure this is safe?” she asked.

“Of course. They’re legally required to do safety checks every week.”

The operator came around and made sure the metal bar over their lap was secured. Satisfied he moved on. A minute later the carts started to move.

At first Nova didn’t understand what the big deal was about, they were just going around in circles, or rocking side to side. It wasn’t _that_ fun… That’s what she thought until Adrian urged her to lean to the left, then to the right. The next thing she knew, the cart spun faster and faster.

She couldn’t stop laughing, tears rolling down her cheeks from the force of her exhilaration.

When the ride stopped they went again. Then again. Then after that she went with Max. She even went with Hugh and Simon. Boy did the cart move faster with Captain Chromium’s frame taking up the small space. 

They alternated between the Tilt-A-Whirl and some other rides. There was one called the Gravitron, and another that looked like eggs attached to a ferris wheel that would roll as it spun. 

When they decided they’d had enough rides, Adrian lead them all over to the games section. The first one they stopped at was something where they were supposed to throw darts at balloons to pop them.

Nova laughed at how easy it was to pop then. All she had to do was ake the darts arch a little bit and gravity did the rest. When she looked over at Adrian though, he was having a much harder time. 

With a smile, she took his hand holding a dart. “Can I show you?”

“You can try, but with how terrible my aim is, it shouldn’t make much of a difference.”

“We’ll see about that.” Pressing herself against him, she directed him through the motion and told him about how he should aim high so the dart arched in the air.

The first few times he missed miserable, but he slowly started to pick up on it. After another couple tries he got one.

“See, that wasn’t so hard.”

“Yeah, easy for you to say. You’ve always been a great shot.”

“Not always,” Nova admitted. “I used to be terrible, but I practiced a lot. Maybe if you practiced more…” she trailed off, giving him a teasing smile.

“Hey, I _do_ practice, I just don’t get better.”

They played other games of course. Nova won all of the sharp-shooter ones that Adrian didn’t even have a chance at beating. She picked out a giant purple teddy bear and gifted it to her boyfriend. 

Max ended up winning a goldfish in a ring toss game and somehow a sugar rush from all the cotton candy he ate. He rode out a sugar high like never before. Nova couldn’t help thinking that maybe he _hadn’t_ experienced one before.

Hugh had his arm over Simon’s shoulders as they walked the grounds. “Think they’re having a good time?” 

Simon looked ahead of them to Max weaving through people, then to Adrian and Nova giggling to each other about something–probably the purple bear Adrian could barely carry. “I think family bonding night was more than successful.”

It was so good to see their children–and Nova whom he thought of as family–so happy. He never thought he’d see Max outside around people, let alone prodigies. Now that everyone but Max was a prodigy, he almost wished their son had been gifted some form of power from the Supernova.

Leaning closer, Hugh pressed a small kiss to the corner of Simon’s lips. “I think so too.”

“But it’s not over yet, we still have one more thing to do.”

“Ah, yes. I believe you promised Max,” Simon said. Gathering their growing family, Simon and Hugh directed them all to the ferris wheel. Once again they showed the operator their wristbands and sat down in one of the cars. Simon and Hugh faced Adrian, Nova, and Max on the other side. The giant purple teddy bear sat in the corner of the car.

“Everyone have fun tonight?” Hugh asked as the wheel started to move. 

Slowly they rose up into the air.

Max smiled down at his goldfish. “Yeah. I think I’m going to name this guy Aurum.”

“The latin word for gold,” Nova mused. “I like it.”

Max beamed.

Adrian ruffled his little brother’s hair. “We should do this more,” he said to his dads. “Make it a monthly thing. Maybe even replace game night.”

“We’re not replacing game night,” Simon said.

“Can you at least stop telling terrible stories about me?”

“No.”

Nova leaned her head on Adrian’s shoulder, looking out at the park below. Everyone looked so happy. It was getting colder so she leaned further into Adrian. He must have noticed because his arm wrapped over her shoulders.

“Will _you_ stop telling stories about me?” he whispered.

Nova grinned, tilting her head to look at him. “Not a chance.”

Adrian huffed, not at all meaning it. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “I am.”


	3. Date Night

Nova and Adrian were supposed to go out the next night like they planned, but there was a problem at headquarters that needed Nova’s mechanical expertise. So they took a rain check, rescheduling for the weekend when they’d surely have time.

They were wrong.

Max asked for Adrian’s help on his new Gatlon model for the upcoming parade and it ended up taking the entire weekend. It was time well spent, and Adrian wouldn’t have changed a thing about it, but he felt guilty about their plans changing again.

They tried to make time every day for the next week, but something always came up. One or the other, or both of them had to respond to something.

The night of the annual renegades parade came around. As usual, the remaining council members, along with a few new ones, were wearing their traditional costumes instead of the black and red ones they usually wore.

Renegades walked around everywhere they went.

Nova held Adrian’s hand as they walked past the floats lined up. A year ago she was perched on a rooftop waiting to kill Captain Chromium at this very parade and now she was going to take part in it. There was a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Not a bad one though. It was more like…hope. There was a sense of hope and joy inside of her that she’d never felt while she was at one of these parades.

Adrian’s hand tightened around hers, drawing her attention toward him. He had an adorably goofy smile on his face. She couldn’t help bringing her free hand up to his cheek and stroking her thumb over his skin. 

“I love you,” she whispered.

Her heart leaped when his smile grew brighter.

“I love you too. Now let’s get to our float.”

Nova pursed her lips. “Do I really have to be up there with you? The city is pretty split on how they feel about me still. It might be safer for both of us if I stay on the sidelines.”

“Star, we’ve talked about this,” Adrian said gently. His hand landed on her hip and drew her closer to him. Ice blue eyes met chestnut brown. “There are always going to be people that think you haven’t changed, but the people who matter know the truth. Besides, everyone is still in the honeymoon phase from the Supernova. It’ll be fine.”

She sighed, leaning into his embrace and resting her cheek on his shoulder. “The ‘honeymoon phase’ hasn’t done much to stop people from hating me.”

“And loving you. More people love you than hate you, Nova.”

“You don’t know that.”

“The people that matter love you. I love you.”

Admittedly it was nice to hear him say those words again. Those three words that always made her feel warm and fuzzy inside no matter how or when or where or why he said them. Pulling her face off his shoulder, Nova met his eyes again. “I know. I love you too… but do you really think it’s a good idea?”

“I don’t think it’s a bad one.”

She took a deep breath. “Alright. Let’s go.”

Adrian pressed a quick kiss on her forehead then lead her over to the float they were assigned to.

Danna was already there, leaning against the decorated platform. She picked at her nails with a bobby pin. Narcissa sat behind her on the flat, braiding three of Danna’s dreads together. Her head perked up when Nova and Adrian were a few feet away. “What took you two so long?”

“I had to convince her to join us a few times.”

Nova elbowed him in the ribs, but smiled while doing so. Yeah he had to convince her, but she was there, wasn’t she?

“Where are Oscar and Ruby?” she asked Danna.

“Oh, you know Oscar. He was hungry. They went to get him something deep fried to eat so he didn’t, and I quote, ‘die of starvation during this dumb parade.’”

Adrian laughed, not at all surprised. “Of course they did.”

“I told them if they’re not back by the time we get going that we’re leaving without them.” Danna looked back down at her nails, seemingly satisfied with how they looked. “Which is any minute now, so we should get into position.”

“Right,” Nova said. She moved toward the platform and was about to hop on when Adrian’s hands grabbed onto her hips. “What are you–hey!” He lifted her up and setting her on top of the float. Turning around she raised an eyebrow at him. “You know I could’ve gotten up myself.”

Adrian smiled up at her a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I know. But you’re short, so I thought I’d help you out.”

She scoffed. “I’ve always been short, dumb ass. That doesn’t mean I can’t get up on tell things.”

“I know.” He hopped up and sat on the edge of the float, then stood so he could look down at her. “I wanted to though.”

Instead of climbing up like a normal person, Danna transformed into her butterfly swarm then reformed next to Narcissa. “How is it possible that you two are getting even more disgustingly affectionate? I don’t know who’s worse: you or Oscar and Ruby.”

“It’s definitely them,” Ruby said. She and Oscar stood below holding an assortment of fried foods.

Oscar laughed. “Well, it’s not Danna and Narcissa.”

Nova’s stomach grumbled at the smell. She couldn’t remember the last time she ate. Maybe she should ask if she could steal a mozzarella stick or two to tide her over until the end of the parade.

As if reading her mind, Oscar held the deep fried deliciousness up to her. “There’s plenty to spare.”

She gave him a smile before reaching down to take one. “Thanks. I haven’t eaten all day.”

“ _Nova_ ,” Adrian chastised.

“I’m fine. I’m eating now.”

He sighed. “Alright. Alright.”

She knew he wanted to say more, but was glad he bit his tongue. He was always so concerned that she wasn’t taking care of herself. She was doing much better than she used to be though. Forgetting to eat once in a while didn’t affect her that much because she didn’t sleep. Something to do with her metabolism not processing as fast because of it, or so that’s what Leroy theorized. They never had the resources to actually figure it out.

Ruby and Oscar climbed up on the float with them, careful not to drop any of the food. Once they were up Nova took another mozzarella stick.

Someone announced that the parade was starting and a few seconds later the floats moved forward.

The group split up. Nova and Adrian climbed up the ladder that lead to the top point of the star, while Ruby and Oscar went to one side point and Danna and Narcissa went to the other. 

“So… maybe we could consider this date night?” Adrian asked once they reached the top.

“You want to call riding around on a giant star through the city in front of thousands of people date night?” Nova put her hands on the rail and looked down below. 

It was quite the view from the top of the float. She could see Max in front of them with his glass replica of Gatlon. The ice float was ahead of him, and the lava one ahead of that. They weren’t quite to where people started gathering on the sidewalks yet. That was still a few blocks ahead.

“Sure, why not?”

She turned around, leaning her forearms against the railing. “Alright. Date night it is. That means the whole shebang though. You have to kiss me and tell me you love me and when we’re done here, you’re buying me dinner.”

“I think I can manage that.” He grinned, leaning down to kiss her softly.

Nova smiled into the kiss. Moving her arms from the rail, she wrapped them around his neck and tugged him even closer. 

She let go of Adrian when she heard the crowd draw nearer, hesitantly waving.

“Heyyyyy,” he whined. He reached forward, wrapped his arms around her hips, and set his chin on top of her head. “I want to hold you.”

Nova hummed, “You’re holding me right now.”

The people down below cheered when they saw the star float approach. Some called out for Monarch or Smokescreen. Some for Red Assassin or Reflection. But most of the noise was for Sketch and Nightmare. The entire city was overjoyed to see a reformed villain and Gatlon’s golden boy so infatuated with each other. 

There were posters and signs saying tacky things like “Sketch and Nightmare 4ever!” or “LOVE CONQUERS ALL” scattered throughout the crowd.

Frankly Nova found them a bit annoying. She didn’t like that the public was so invested in their private lives. She also didn’t like the insinuation that Adrian changed her somehow. He didn’t change that she wanted to help the city, he just helped open her eyes to the right way to do it.

She sighed, listening to people call her name. She didn’t like the attention.

“I told you they love you,” Adrian said.

“I guess I’m just not used to the attention.” 

“It’s been six months.”

“I also lived in the subway for the same amount of time you’ve been in the spotlight.”

“Touche.” He loosened his arms around her, moving so they were face to face. “I know you don’t like people prying, so we’ll do what we can to keep them out of our business. I promise.”

Nova smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I love you so much.”

His smile widened. “I love you too, my star.”

She stood up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. It was meant to only be a quick peck, but Adrian pulled her closer and tangled his fingers into her hair. Nova flushed when the people on the streets grew louder because of their public display of affection.

Adrian pulled back just enough to look into her eyes. “That’s going to be on the front page tomorrow.”

Nova groaned.

An hour later they walked to a pizza place not too far away. Oscar wanted to go with–saying that the snacked he had earlier weren’t enough–but Ruby convinced him to go somewhere else to Nova and Adrian could have some alone time. 

Hand in hand, they crossed the street. The pizza place was on the corner and Adrian pulled the door open for her. 

Nova was about to step inside when she felt a slight tug at her wrist. Her right hand immediately flung to her left wrist to keep the bracelet on. Her head whipped around, looking for the one person she knew would dare try stealing from her. Nova’s eyes locked on a scrawny young girl with a jet black bob. “Come here, you little shit.”


End file.
